Corona Devotionals

I found out that one of my friends is having a hard time.  She didn't say how, or why, or about what, but she was vulnerable-enough with me to share that she was "not in the best place for a while".  For a simple phrase ( "not in the best place for a while") , I have a feeling (and my own experiences) that the shadows and struggles attached to that phrase (and situation-in-life) can run deep and for too long.    "But", she added, "through the grace of God" she is "out of the valley". Our conversation ended, but the heaviness in my heart for her lingered.  It's still there, actually.   Dark times in our lives (and hearts and minds) are hard to climb out of.  When we are stuck in the bindings of it...relief and hope can seem impossible.   My friend got it right, though:  through the grace of God , we can get out of the valley. Are we there today?  Buried?  Frozen.  Detached.  Desperate?  Questioning?  Hop...

We got a letter today!  And it's comforting...and personalized...and tender. It's from Jude.   Who's Jude?   We know Jude... Jude was a follower of Jesus.  Jude was contemporary of Jesus.  Jude was a half-brother of Jesus (his parents were Mary and Joseph too).  And by his own words, Jude was  a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James. This letter is from Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James.  I am writing to all who have been called by God the Father, who loves you and keeps you safe in the care of Jesus Christ. ( 2)  May God give you more and more mercy, peace, and love.   ~Jude 1:1-2     Jude wrote a letter to us:  I am writing to all who have been called by God the Father... (Jude 1:1). Beloved, we have been called by God the Father , who ( Receive it today! ) loves us and keeps us safe   in the care of Jesus Christ.   Yes, Jude.   Thank you for...

We've all heard the saying, "The devil made me do it", and unfortunately, we all have some regrets that we'd like to give the devil full-credit for making us do. But when was the last time that we could acknowledge that "God made me do it" about an action in our life?  God  does make us do things.  Or--the Lord at least prompts us to do and say things through His Holy Spirit.  “ If you love me, keep my commands.  ( 16)  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—  ( 17)  the Spirit of truth.  The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you...   (26)  But the Advocate,  the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,  will teach you all things  and will remind you of everything I have said to you.   ~John 14:15-17, 26 Yes,  the Father has...

“O Israel, stay away from idols!   I am the one who answers your prayers and cares for you.   I am like a tree that is always green;  all your fruit comes from me.”  (9) Let those who are wise understand these things.   Let those with discernment listen carefully.   The paths of the Lord are true and right,  and righteous people live by walking in them.   But in those paths sinners stumble and fall.  ~Hosea 14:8-9 Our hearts glimpse and glance at the glitter of this world and we often chase after what everyone else does.  But God has (much) more for us. Don't we pray?  Don't we ask, and yearn, and seek?   ... But to whom? “O Israel, stay away from idols!   I am the one who answers your prayers and cares for you.  ~Hosea 14:8 ~~~ God is always in season.   "I am like a tree that is always green..."   ~Hosea 14:8 Our Lord is always ripe and ready to love us, to lead...

I'm not sure what part of the world you woke up in today, but where I live, it's been pretty cold lately.  Way below freezing temperatures, actually.   I remember learning in grade school about the experiments that scientist Ivan Pavlov did with dogs.  Pavlov knew that dogs drool (salivate) naturally when they see food (this is called an "unconditioned response", because it happens naturally).  Pavlov believed, tested, and proved that if he rang a bell in tandem with serving the dogs food, then eventually, they would associate the bell with food, and drool...even when there was no food being served (and just a bell ringing).  (This is called a "conditioned response", because a subject can be "conditioned" to behave in this way). The dogs in the experiment eventually drooled at the ringing of a bell, without any food in sight. That's our science lesson for today, but I have been a part of my own little scientific experiment lately.   I think the...